Forever the End
by Trackjax
Summary: What happens when Hope meets a mysterious girl when he journeys to the Pulse? HopexGemma. A character I added in Vanille's place


**Ok, so I started the story when Hope's mom dies, but I took Vanille out because she somewhat annoys me..., and so i replaced her with Gemma, a character of my own^ ^ Please enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

This war began like any other. A world contorted with hate, and anger. The human instinct to control and over power, a blood thirsty and savage race at times. Fate is like a delicate formation of dominos set in motion. Once the count down starts, there's no telling how the story ends, or the events in between. Destiny brings two together, but fate will not let it be.

An eternal battle between humans and the mindless Fal'cie seems to last a lifetime. Trapped over Lake Bresha, suspended by cables and bridges constructed of rusted steel, threatening to break with the slightest tremble; and the stars' twinkling light could not be seen. War was on the rampage. His mother a volunteer of a man they all referred to as Snow. Hope Esthiem had watched her fight a noble battle against the Pulse Fal' Cie warriors, forever slaves of the heartless machine. His life as a normal boy had ended abruptly, when he and his mother were captured by the Sanctum. An explosion ended it for her and many others as he watched, helpless and trembling. The blast sent waves of debris washing over Hope's awaiting colony; bathing him in fresh dust as debris clawed at the robe he wore. The light was blinding, betraying his vision. The blast welled up in a sphere and let loose its wrath as it sliced the air like a cunning blade. When he finally looked up, his mother slipped helplessly from Snow's hands, falling to her death, into the endless void that lay below. It was his fault. Snow seemed to never be forgiven in Hope's young and fragile mind.

Tears streaked the boy's face, but he made no sound. The sobs of others filled the small corner of the bridge the colony occupied. With one hand, Hope grabbed the rim of the hood concealing his broken face, and thrust it back over his shoulder. The memory of the explosion vivid in his mind, unforgiving. His silvery hair wavered in the gusts of wind, stealing his tears from his face and claiming them as its own. Across the vast expanse of the chasm that lay between Hope and the ruined bridge, Snow knelt over the edge where Hope's mother had fallen, his cries of grief inaudible from the distance. He turned his head down, looking at his gloved hands. A gaze of an unwanted visitor seemed to burn at his back until Hope pried his gaze from his hands and he scanned the crowd. He almost missed the girl with swaths of flowing black hair cascading down to her waist, framing her pale face. Her eyes, of a bright green, seemed to penetrate his soul, seeing everything inside. She had shed her robe revealing her clothes underneath, and when she noticed him looking her way, she shot him a sheepish smile, quickly casting her gaze somewhere else and she disappeared into the moving crowd, as if she were sucked under a wave bubbling over a sea shore. Hope's eyes tried to follow but she was gone. He stood up and weaved throw the mourning people, desperation clouding his ocean blue eyes. He finally ended his search when he reached the rim of the bridge, gazing out over the chasm.

Hope clenched his fists in anger as he watched a hefty, dark- skinned man approach Snow, who stood, as if in a rush, and the two where off running to a small pod. They jumped inside and it took off spiraling through the stale air. Their path was a dangerous one. As Hope watched from his perch, the girl forgotten, The pod sped toward the hulking monster of the Pulse Fal' cie. Suspended by thick cables, extending into the endless rafters of the place, the Pulse sat unmoving, large mechanical parts of intricate designs splayed out from a center that all too well resembled the face of a ghoul- like lion, hungry for humans to serve it, and if they chose otherwise, they would face a consequence worse than the emptiness of death itself.

With out the slightest hesitation, Hope was yanking his robe off, leaving the shredded fabric spread across the grimy surface in a hideous heap. "Wait! Come back," Hope wailed after them, but he was already out of earshot. looking around frantically, as the crowd began to notice his disturbance, Hope sprinted toward an abandoned pod identical to the one Snow had taken, left by part of his team when they went to battle.

The same black haired girl spotted Hope's desperate actions. "Stop! What do you think you're doing?" She sprinted after him hot on Hope's heels. Not quick to give up, Hope sprinted aster, nearly tripping into the awaiting pod. The girl knocked into him, sending her into the back seat.

Hope jabbed at the control panel, and he wished he had known more about machinery. "You need to stay with the colony, I can help you!" The girl tried to pursued him into leaving, and in the same moment grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt, and Hope whirled around to pry her off, and his elbow hit the ignition. With new motivation, Hope directed the pod into the air, and began to speed toward the Pulse Fal'Cie.

The girl pounded on Hopes back pleading him to set her down, but he knew if he went back, the colony would never let him out of their sight, and how would he find Snow then? When the girl glanced up, her eyes trained on the same image Hope had set his sights on. The two gaped at the gigantic mechanism that lay before them. The looming construction was held aloft by massive cables that shot into the endless void of a ceiling, high in the rafters, never to be seen. The Pulse hulked over the pod, sending a dark shadow over them, casting them into the Pule's unforgiving chill, giving them a taste of its evil and malice. The many parts of twisted wire and silvery metal gleamed in the husky light. The intricate patters seemed to almost resemble the furrowed surface of an old oak tree. In the beat's center was what seemed like the face of a skull. The deep chasms that resembled eye sockets were illuminated in an eerie blue light, that came from a mysterious source within the being, that was almost a living creature, so the stories were told. The same light came from various places over the monster's metallic body.

Hope noted the girl's gasp of horror as they neared the looming creation, and she was too stunned to say anything other than mutter "...The Pulse Fal' Cie..." Hope's gaze was focused on the hideous face that rose before them, determination driving him on, and was quickly snapped back to reality by the mystery girl's scream. "Watch where you're going!" She let out a screech as did Hope when he looked ahead and they crashed into the ceiling of a tunnel leading into the belly of the Pulse. Sparks flitted through the air like unwanted fireflies, spraying over the pod. Their screams could not be heard over the ear piercing screeching of metal on metal, and suddenly, a wall loomed before the duo, and the pod careened into it, full on the nose. Giant slabs of rubble pelted the roof, caving it in, sheltering them both in blackness.

**I have more chapters in progress, no worries! Feel free to comment and lend me some advice =D Thanks guys!**


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